4 things birth needs to work well

Giving birth is a hugely hormonal and emotional experience. And whilst our experience will be greatly influenced by a variety of different factors, there are four key things that birth needs to work well.

Creating the right conditions for birth to unfold is really important.

Wherever you choose to give birth, you want to focus on creating an environment where you are supported to follow your instincts and where the natural process of birth can unfold.

During labour, your body releases a cocktail of different hormones. These hormones help contractions to start, keep them going and ultimately help your baby to be born.

In this blog post, I’m going to share with you four key things that birth needs to work well – the last one will just surprise you!

Feeling safe

In order for your body to truly relax and let go during labour, you need to feel safe in your environment. Cultivating feelings of safety will be very different for everyone. For some people, a sense of safety comes from being in hospital and knowing that medical help is on hand if needed.

For others, choosing to birth at home helps them to feel safe.

Ultimately, If you don’t feel safe, it’s likely that your body will go into a fight or flight during labour. The impact this has on birth is that it can make your labour longer and more painful. It could also stop, stall or slow labour down.

Safety comes not only from your external landscape and the place you choose to give birth, but from your internal landscape too.

Lots of people feel really fearful about giving birth. If you don't really work on this fear, it could be hugely disruptive during labour. Feeling fearful creates a lot of physical tension in the body. During labour, this tension can make giving birth more painful.

Working on feelings of safety is one of the key focuses during a Hypnobirthing course and building trust in the birthing process.

Feelings of safety as also a primal instinct- your body needs to feel safe to give birth.

Privacy

The need for privacy is an important aspect of birth. We don’t want to feel like we’re being watched, observed or interrupted during labour as this massively disrupts our birthing hormones.

When you're giving birth, give some consideration as to how you can create this feeling of privacy, especially if you're giving birth in a hospital setting.

Think about it in the same way as when you have sex – you need those feelings of privacy so that your sex hormones can thrive and so that you can let go. It’s the same with birth.

Familiarity

When we’re in an environment we’re used to and familiar with, our bodies are much more likely to let go during labour. This sense of familiarity also helps our birthing hormones to thrive. For many people this is one of the reasons they choose to have a homebirth.

If you’re planning to give birth in hospital, ask your trust if your able to have a tour of the facilities prior to giving birth. This will help you to feel a lot more comfortable about birthing in that environment. Also focus on how you can make that environment as homely as possible. Perhaps bring in some comforting items from home?

Dim lighting

Your body and mind are very clever. During labour, your mind is constantly scanning your environment to check if you're safe without you even realising.

Bright lights, such as those in a hospital, can trigger adrenaline which can slow labour down and makes things feel more painful. In order to help your birthing hormones to thrive, you want to focus on creating an environment which is dimly lit.

This can be as simple as turning off the overhead lights and using something like LED candles or a light projector to create a cosy feeling. All of this helps to support your hormones to thrive and helps your labour to progress much more easily.

The need for safety, privacy, familiarity and dim lighting comes down to your birthing hormones and the conditions that these wonderful hormones need to work more optimally. Without these four key elements, labour may be a lot longer, more painful, slow down or stop altogether.

Wherever you choose to birth your baby, remember these 4 simple things to help your mind relax and your body get on with the job of labour.

Love Emma